Introducing our College Roundtable

When it comes to the ever-evolving, ever-confusing world of college admissions, there are few people more qualified to provide a dose of reality and clarity to the process than our wonderful network of local college admissions counselors and consultants. So we're kicking off a new College Roundtable that we hope to feature regularly. The idea is to lead with a discussion question and let our local experts share their knowledge. Hopefully, you find it useful! And if you have any questions that you would like to submit for future Roundtable consideration, please email info@tutorpedia.com.

The May 1st deadline for high school seniors to commit to their schools of choice has come and gone. What did you notice that was different - if anything - about this year's process in working with your students and families to make that final decision? To what extent did the economy affect these decisions?


Irena Smith, Irena Smith Consulting
Although the fundamentals of the process have not changed, I have noticed that financial considerations played a more prominent role than in previous years. For the majority of my students, making the final decision still came down to which school offered the best fit; at the same time, schools which offered financial aid incentives, particularly in the form of merit scholarships, appeared far more attractive this year than they would have in years past. Just a week ago, one of my students committed to Princeton over UC Irvine, but the decision was a tough one: she had been named a Regents' Scholar at UC Irvine, and the offer of a free four-year college education, not to mention the multiple other incentives, was difficult to give up -- particularly in a year riven by economic upheaval and uncertainty.

Some private universities, such as Stanford, have recently expanded their financial aid programs, and as a result have seen an unprecedented surge in applications (over 30,000 to Stanford this year). Along similar lines, state universities -- which, in spite of increasing fees, are still a better "deal" -- were inundated with applications and turned away thousands of qualified applicants. Although the official notification deadline was May 1st, I suspect that the process is far from over: many students, affected by the anxiety and uncertainty that have spilled from the economic crisis into so many other aspects of everyday life, applied to many more colleges and universities than they would have ordinarly, just in case. As a result, there may be many unclaimed spots as some students ultimately opt for public education over the more expensive private schools, quite possibly leading many private universities to reach deep into their waitlists as they work to balance their expected and actual student yield.

Terry Piazza, College Counseling Associates
Overall, our office did not see too much difference in the most current trends. The most select colleges are admitting 10% or less and the UC’s are getting more and more selective. We did notice that UCSC was more difficult to get into than previous years. Students will not be able to count Santa Cruz as a safety or back-up college. Additionally, UC Davis, Santa Barbara and Irvine cut their numbers of accepted students in order to accommodate the anticipated rise in yield. This trend made the mid range UCs more selective than in previous years. As far as any economic impact, we did see a rise in the number of families asking about financial aid and/or scholarships. Anecdotally, the smaller liberal arts colleges did seem to accept more of our students maybe because of their ability to pay full tuition.

Dewey Wilmot, Admissions Edge Consulting
May 1st brought the usual mix of soul searching, thoughtful deliberation and sometimes gut-wrenching decision making. The single largest affect of the economy on my clients, as well as other students and families whom I know, has been the enrollment limits within the UC and CSU systems. As usual, the top students (in terms or GPA, test scores and activities) got into the schools with the lowest admissions rates - Cal, UCLA, Cal Poly, etc.) But the students who were minimally eligible were denied at unprecedented rates. In many instances, eligible students were turned away from their local public 4-year colleges and are now facing the prospect of spending a year or more at a community college. When I encounter students in this position, I encourage them to look at it as an opportunity to excel in their classes and plan a curriculum that will allow them to transfer to a UC or CSU at the Junior level. In many cases these students may even be able to set the bar much higher than they might otherwise have. For instance, let's say a student had their sights set on UC Santa Cruz, with a 3.0 GPA and test scores slightly below the UCSC average. Because this student was near the lower limits of eligibility, they were denied admission. This student's dream was to attend college near the beach. but UCSD or UCSB are essentially out of reach for minimally eligible students. BUT, this same student could attend his or her local CC, work hard to earn A's and B's and apply to UCSD, SB or SC with a far greater chance of acceptance. Needless-to-say, California's Community Colleges are stretched to their limits right now. The upcoming budget resolution will be critical to next year's class and beyond!

On the flip-side, private colleges, and many out-of-state public colleges seemed to accept CA students at normal or even above normal rates. The main affect I saw the economy have on the process was in the ever-increasing use of waitlists by private (and even a few public) schools. Full paying students seemed to also have unprecedented negotiating ability during the waitlist process and colleges (despite the hits to endowments) didn't seem any less generous with their scholarship money. The well known, obvious example is RPI confirming with potential waitlist candidates that there will be a scholarship grant ($5000+) awaiting them IF they are to be selected off of the waitlist. Granted, this offer was given in prior years, before the current economic downturn, but it is symbolic of the type of thing going on at other schools: aggressive use of the waitlist as a recruiting tool.

Carola Ingram, Independent College Adviser
In Fall as the economy was clearly going haywire, I was working with two students who were obviously good candidates for early decision -- sure there was only one college for them, and good candidates for that college. In both cases, I advised the parents that financial aid this year seemed problematic at best, so they needed to be comfortable with these colleges even if no aid was available. Happily, in both cases the students were admitted, and in one case, the student received some merit money (from a small, very well-endowed liberal arts college), which obviously pleased the parents. I do think that families went into application season with trepidation about the economy, but didn't see very many of them change their college ideas drastically. I advised all my clients to have a "financial safety" college, which in many cases was a Cal State University campus.

In April, as regular admission students were making decisions, I found that it often goes back to their gut feelings, which they sometimes express the first time I meet with them. One client passed up a significant athletic scholarship to attend the "large, urban, diverse school back East" that she described the first time I met her. Another passed up several opportunities and decided to stay closer to home and try an architecture major, saying "if I don't try it now, I may regret it later." In both of these cases, the economy wasn't really a factor in the final decision -- it was more a matter of what spoke to the heart of the student. Remember that these are 17 and 18-year-olds, so they don't make decisions the way we adults might. That said, I know of several families who are very happy their students chose a CSU or a UC campus for financial reasons.